Unlocking the Secrets of Mordants in Eco Printing

Eco printing is a captivating way to transfer nature's beauty onto fabric. This method has gained traction among textile artists, thanks to its original results. At the heart of this process lies the use of mordants. Understanding how mordants work in conjunction with your plant matter can significantly enhance your creations, allowing you to craft designs from Mother Nature that enhance beauty and longevity.

In this post, we will explore the essentials of a few mordants that I find are the most helpful in my ecoprinting. Learning HOW the mordants influence the leaves and plants that you use in NATURAL ecoprinting (no background dyes) will open a whole new world within the ecoprinting spectrum!

Let me also add that Ecoprinting LOVES protein fibers-those that are made from animals such as wool, silk and leather. These mordants can be used on cellulose fibers as well such as linen and cotton but the results will vary and the designs will not have the vibrancy found on ecoprinted protein fibers. Experiment!

See which mordants influence the plant colors in Ecoprinting!

Exploring Mordants

Mordants are crucial substances in the dyeing process that help fix dyes onto fabrics. The history of mordants can be a fascinating read as their use goes back to Egyption times! The term "mordant" comes from the Latin "mordere," meaning "to bite," as, just as in cloth dyeing, they are essential for ensuring that your plant imprints bond effectively with your fabrics. Without the right mordant, colors can fade or wash out quickly. By acting as a mediator, mordants enhance the vibrancy, durability, and overall appeal of your textiles and ecoprint designs.

Top Left to right: Alum and Iron. Bottom Left to Right: Copper and Titanium Oxalate

My Favorite Mordants

As an artist who embraced Ecoprinting long before it became popular, I have watched the relatively simple art of Ecoprinting (or Botanical printing as some like to say) expand into a complicated array of choices! Any natural dye catalog will now stock a confusing array of over 40 plus choices of mordants and assists! It can be overwhelming. Add to that the many "experts" on social media and elsewhere and somewhere along the way, the joy of Ecoprinting starts to lose its joy. I have experimented with virtually all of the mordants that have popped up over the last decade or so with mixed results. At the end of the day I have found that "going back to my roots" works the best for me, my students and the methods that I use and teach in my workshops.

1. Alum (Potassium Aluminum Sulfate)

Alum is a common natural mordant and its place in history is fascinating. It is favored for its ability to create bright and vivid colors. In Ecoprinting, I find it brings out the YELLOW of many plants. You do not need much in the way of mordants-as little as an ounce in a gallon of water is a good start with all the mordants I use! Experience will teach you how to alter the strength of your mordant solution and most importantly, which plants are most influenced by it. Notice in the photo that it is granular-almost like salt crystals.

Leaves dipped in an Alum mordant solution will often take on a yellow hue.

2. Iron (Ferrous Sulfate)

Iron (Ferrous Sulfate) was about the only mordant originally used in the earlier days of Ecoprinting! It is versatile, functioning as both a mordant and a dye modifier. It darkens colors ("saddens"), creating a variety of shades. Iron can be easily sourced from rusty nails but I like to know what my solution strength is so I always measure it out. Leaves left in an iron solution overnight will turn black. Never mordant your fabric unless you plan to work with it right away as storing pre-mordanted fabric will actually rot it!

Iron is versatile and can easily be used in various strengths on its own or mixed with another mordant! It darkens your leaf prints

Copper (Copper Sulfate)

There is a reason that many plant foods and fertilizers contain copper-it enhances the greens in your ecoprinting. But there is a catch. I tell my students that copper influences the greens in the plants that "want to be influenced that day!" Copper will not affect all plant matter. But it especially seems to like rose leaves and anything in the rosa family :-).

Copper is selective. But when it influences a particular leaf or plant the results can be stunning.

Titanium Oxalate

Back in 2018 I wrote about this "new" mordant ( https://www.thesilkthread.com/post/how-to-understand-ecoprinting-and-using-mordants) It is the only one I have embraced other than my regulars! It is a strong mordant and will influence virtually ANY plant and give you various shades of orange in ecoprinting. It does best when alternated with iron to soften it.

Titanium Oxalate brings out the oranges in your ecoprints.

Bringing Vibrancy to Your Eco Printing

Mordants are a core element in making eco printing a sustainable and captivating art form. By grasping the different types and effective methods to use them, artists can unlock a vibrant world of colors on natural textiles. The union of nature's palette with well-informed techniques lets you craft textiles that are more than mere fabric—they become art pieces infused with effort and creativity.

When you master using mordants, you elevate your eco printing, bringing the beauty of the outdoors into everyday textiles. Gather your materials, choose your mordant thoughtfully, and dive into the vibrant possibilities that await you in your eco printing journey!

What I recommend:

Select leaves, plants and flowers in your area. Regardless of the mordants you use, not everything prints or prints well. The biggest factor is Mother Nature. In other posts I have mentioned that your environmental factors, time of day, time of year, the species, the weather...all influence your print results. That is the challenge and fun of ecoprinting!

In my workshops, I recommend dipping each leaf, plant into a mordant to be more able to accurately judge the results on that day. There are plenty of other ways to use mordants other than individually dipping your plants but learning how they react also offers the option of a beautiful kaleidoscope of colors!

One of my student's mordant chart to track her results! (left to right) Iron, alum, TO and copper

First time student work on silk and wool

More student work experimenting with mordants on silk and wool

Mordants and COLOR

Learning HOW each of the mordants influence YOUR leaves and plants will give you a better insight of how those same factors influence your choice of dyes when it comes to a background color. There is no doubt that adding a color background to your ecoprinted fiber piece is the WOW factor! Simply put, everything prints with a color background. Non-tannin leaves will at least print as a resist so rarely is there a disappointed student who finds a blank spot on their piece which did not print! Regardless of the dyes you choose to use, when you expand into background colors, you open up yet another creative door in your ecoprinting!

Until next time!-Theresa

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